In general, belt-type grain pickups have been known and used for years. In general, such pickups consist of a pair of spaced apart rollers rotatably mounted and driven in end frames over which one or more belts pass to pick up the grain. For most efficient use, these rollers are one span which span the distance between the two end frames and are typically formed of hollow tubing. One problem which has resulted from such pickups is that in the event the pickup and combine hit a rock, this long unsupported span is susceptible to bending. If one or both rollers are bent, a substantial amount of down time is involved during the season which the farmer ideally wishes to utilize his equipment continuously. One solution to this problem has been to form the rollers out of larger diameter or thicker walled material. In addition to the obvious cost and weight implications of such an attempted solution, in particular providing a larger diameter roller yields a less effective pickup as the increased diameter places the top half of the belt higher above the ground and thus makes it somewhat more difficult for the pickup to gather the windrowed grain.